Is Google+ worth the effort? Comscore report says yes!

So what exactly is going on at Google Plus? On the one hand The Wall Street Journal reported in late February that that Google+ is nothing more than a virtual ghost town, reflected by a growing amount of users who sign up but then never go much further in engaging the platform.

“Visitors using personal computers spent an average of about three minutes a month on Google+ between September and January, versus six to seven hours on Facebook each month over the same period, according to comScore, which didn’t have data on mobile usage,” said the WSJ.

On the other hand, Comscore reports indicates a growing number of visitors worldwide.

It seems the WSJ may have been a bit too early in writing off Google + with the latest numbers from Comscore, showing healthy activity.

“It has clearly captured the attention of the technorati and as usage incubates among this crowd it will likely continue to proliferate to a more general audience,” said Comscore.

Bear in mind that Google does have an existing user base of about 1 billion, which allows it to pursue aggressive conversion targets. Comscore said that while the U.S. leads in Google+ audience, it currently accounts for 27% of the total worldwide audience.

There may also be evidence that 9 out of 10 Google+ users were male in the initial days of launch. Now the numbers look more balanced with males accounting for 63% of visitors to 37% females. In addition, 58% of the total Google+ audience is between the ages of 18-34, with 25-34 year olds representing more than 1/3rd of the total.

All of these stats suggest that critics may have been wrong when they collectively stated that “While Google+ has some original features—including ‘Hangouts,’ which lets people start a video conference with up to 10 people—analysts and some consumers say the distinction isn’t enough to lure Facebook members away and persuade them to build a network of contacts from scratch on Google+.”